Internal and External HR Environments for Telstra

This assessment item involves the analysis of the internal and external environments of an organization within the context of HR planning and job design. It is important to identify both internal and external factors that may have an impact on the ongoing HR needs of the organization.

Select an organization in Australia, research about this organization. It is important you can access sufficient detail about the company to be able to write this report properly.

Hint: Most publicly listed companies have a great deal of information such as reports to shareholders and other documents on their websites. These companies are often written about in well-respected magazines such as Business Review Weekly and the Australia Financial Review.

Write a report examining the factors in the organization's external and internal environments that you would consider if asked to carry out its HR planning and job design functions. You should explain how the factors are likely to impact on the organization in the next five years, and what you would do to address these in the HR plan.

The report should include:
&#61548; A brief description of the organization, providing information such as size, location, and industry
&#61548; Discussion of the factors in the internal environment and discussion of the implications
&#61548; Discussion of the factors in the external environment and discussion of the implications.

The report should include an effective introduction and conclusion; an executive summary of no more than one page to preface the report; and a table of contents to give guidance to the reader. Harvard reference style and at least 10 references.

It is expected that you will read widely to identify the current business issues in the industry in which your chosen organization operates.

Solution Preview

PLEASE NOTE: Please remember that this is a study guide and use it as such. This guide has 1939 words. This means that you can summarize and paraphrase this guide to suit your needs, but you must put your final report in your own words or you risk plagiarism.

Human Resources Planning at Telstra

Human resources (HR) planning is part of a rapidly changing and complex environment which includes a number of elements both inside and outside each company. Effective HR planning, therefore, must include attention to all aspects of both environments (Powell 2004).

The environment of a company is made up of the conditions, circumstances, and influences that impact the company's ability to accomplish its objectives. Every company operates within an environment that includes both external and internal components. The external and the internal environment comprise the five elements of physical, technological, social, political, and economic (Powell 2004). Telstra, a well-known Australian telecom corporation, which began as a government institution but became privatized later, is a good case study in human resources planning (Apostolou 2000).

Telstra Background

Telstra is Australia's main telecommunications company and has $20 billion in revenue as well as over 55,000 employees (Microsoft 2009). As one of Australia's largest employers Telstra provides a variety of career opportunities across numerous disciplines. Telstra is committed to fulfilling its responsibilities to its employees and maintains a culturally rich and diverse workforce as well as good terms and conditions of employment (Telstra nd).

Telstra's External Environment

A firm's external environment has a significant impact on HR policies and practices because it helps to establish the work values, attitudes, and behavior of employees. This is why many companies perform environmental scanning which means analyzing the environment and changes occurring within. This is to find out the environment's possible effect on organizational policies and practices. Issues management is another aspect of HR management (HRM), which managers use to keep abreast of current issues so that they may bring the organization's policies in line with prevailing public opinion or with other environmental forces (Powell 2004).

Physical Environment

The physical element of the external environment consists of the climate, geography, and other physical features of the area in which the business operates. Physical surroundings can significantly impact the costs of housing, commuting, and living which are varying factors from one location to another and which can have a considerable influence on the compensation employees will expect. Shifts in the population of an area can change the demand for and the supply of labor in local job markets. Organizations such as Telstra that depend on scientists and engineers, for example, want to have access to geographic areas where they can recruit "knowledge workers" (Powell 2004). Telstra has main offices in Australia's largest population centers, such as Melbourne and Sydney. This allows them access to the largest possible number of knowledge workers.

Technological Environment

Technological innovation is a highly effective tool that a business can use to develop new products and services, improve existing ones and achieve productivity and quality to maintain a competitive edge. Continuing advancements in computer technology have enabled unlimited data storage and retrieval, and a wide variety of data usage. Information technology has, of course, changed the face of HR in organizations around the world and Telstra is no exception (Powell).

Telstra has been successful at adopting new technologies to develop and improve its products and services. Most recently in 2008 the company deployed more than 10,000 new Telstra IP Telephony (TIPT) services across the organization. This was the largest ever roll-out of its kind in Australia and a crucial achievement in the internal upgrade of Telstra's existing ...

Solution Summary

This is a discussion of internal and external HR environments for Telstra, an Australian company

$2.19

Purchase Solution

$2.19

Solution provided by:

Education

BS, University of Phoenix

MM, University of Phoenix

Recent Feedback

"Thank you
"

"Thank you!!!"

"Great detail information...thank you much!.....follow up question.
Take the role of a mid-level manager at Pegasus. If the CEO decides to go ahead with the payoff scheme and you are told to execute it. What do you do and why?"